When The World Falls
by simonxriley
Summary: Cpl Liz Walker is transferred over to Task Force 141 under the command of Cpt MacTavish. Between countless mission, joint operations with her former team, and a shocking betrayal that leaves Task Force 141 as fugitives, will they have what it takes to take down Makarov or will the world have a new order?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: After so long of wanting to do this, I'm finally starting my 141 & Ghosts fic. This starts 6 months prior to the actual events of MW2 & 3, but there will be a time jump after the first 10 or so chapter. Also Rorke will not be an enemy, instead he's still the Ghosts commanding officer and you will get joint missions from time to time between the Ghosts and the 141, well up until Shepherd's betrayal. And I read somewhere that Dunn's name is Jake? I don't know if that's true but that's what I named him. Anyways I hope you enjoy.**

* * *

The sound of a few F-15 Eagles were heard overhead as Liz walked out of the barracks to head to the shooting range. With the lack of mission the Ghosts have been sent on, being stuck on base was proving to be irritating to her and to blow off some steam, why not go to the shooting range. That and no one would spar with her, not even her much bigger commanding officer Rorke.

She stood in the sun, soaking up some natural vitamin D. It felt nice to be outside, even if it was just to walk to another building. She looked around her, seeing other soldiers with their squads getting some late morning training in. In the distance she saw Ramirez and Dunn sitting on a crate, no doubt filled with supplies, and decided to go talk with them for a few to bide some time.

"What are you men up too?" She walked over, standing in front of them with a cheeky grin on her face.

"Protecting this crate with our lives." Dunn laughed at his own joke, making Liz and Ramirez shake their heads. "What are you up to Liz?"

"Shooting range, I'm becoming bored out of my damn mind." She sat on the crate next to Dunn and sighed. "I hate not having any missions to go on, being stuck on base all the time isn't fun." She glanced over to see them glaring at her. "Sorry and hey I remember what's it like to be a Ranger and being on base for the most part until something finally came up. Just because my dad was secretly a member of the Ghosts doesn't mean I have forgotten what it feels like."

"I'll take your word for it. So how is it, being a Ghost?"

She turned her attention on the squad doing push-ups on the other side of the road with their commander yelling orders. "Mixed feelings. I like it, I like working with Rorke, Merrick and Keegan but being on a team with my own family sucks. Every time we come back from a mission I'm getting critique from my father, 'you could've done this a little faster' or 'you could've done this different' or 'why don't you watch your brothers' more'. I'm just happy Rorke is our commander and not my dad."

She felt a hand rest on her shoulder, turning to see Ramirez giving her a small smile. "Don't sweat it Liz, you're a great soldier!"

"Yeah, way better than your brothers'. You fought for this because you had too, not because it was given to you." Dunn gave her a small smile, that she mirrored. "And that makes you better in my eyes."

Liz glanced between them, the small smile on her face growing bigger. She was blessed to have friends like Dunn and Ramirez on base, someone who could put her in a better mood when she felt down and both of them were all around good friends and great soldiers.

"Thank you, both of you!" She wrapped her arms around both their shoulders. "It's good to have friends like you guys."

All three of them laughed as Liz dropped her arms from around their necks.

"You're welcome! Truthfully I never really liked Hesh, he has too much of an ego on him." Dunn wiped some sweat off his brow and sighed. "Makes it hard to work with him."

"Try being related to him. At least when you go on a mission you don't have to be stuck with him."

Dunn gave her a small smile, that she mirrored once again. "Why don't you see if you can get reassigned over to our squad? We would love to have an amazing soldier as yourself."

Ramirez scoffed, making Liz and Dunn look over at him with a raised brow. "First off I agree with Dunn, you should see if you can get reassigned to our squad. But can you two please act like you're together? Almost the whole base knows you are, why not actually act like it?"

Liz sighed, glancing over at the squad across from them. Her attention was brought to her hand when she felt someone grab it, seeing it belonged to Dunn. He was giving her a small smile, indicating everything was going to be alright.

"Would it be bad if I'd say it's because of my family?"

"Why? You usually don't give a shit what your family thinks."

She looked over at Ramirez and sighed. "I don't. I just know they'll use it against me, 'cause apparently being in a relationship is a luxury to them. I just want some happiness in my life."

Ramirez nodded. "We're on a base full of highly trained soldiers, yet you're probably the strongest one here Liz. Don't let your family come between something that's good, if they don't like it then that's their problem, not yours or Dunn's. We're in the middle of trying to stop the beginning of an inevitable war, you deserve to be getting dicked down by Dunn every night."

Liz snorted and shook her head. "Thanks for that. But you're right, I really shouldn't let it get to me. They're just aggravating you know?"

"Who's aggravating?"

Her eyes widened when she heard that familiar deep voice, hoping he only heard what she said and not Ramirez. She looked behind her, as did Dunn and Ramirez to see Rorke standing behind them with his arms crossed. Making them all wonder if he's been there the whole time.

"Oh...just…...my family."

"What did your brothers' do now?" He uncrossed his arms and sat down next to them. "You seem to be on edge lately Liz, everything alright?"

She maneuvered herself to look at him and scoffed. "What haven't they done. Yeah I'm fine, just getting antsy with no missions as of late. I don't like being cooped up in the base with nothing to do."

"Yeah, this is the longest we've gone without a mission, even I'm getting antsy with nothing to do. I'm hoping that changes tomorrow, Shepherd is coming with a few updates."

Liz, Dunn and Ramirez all groaned with a scowl on their faces. Neither of them liked Shepherd, thinking he was a pompous asshole.

"What does that asshole want?" Dunn chimed in.

"Don't know. All I know is that he wants to speak with Liz tomorrow at 0900."

She gulped, as Dunn and Ramirez turned their attention on her, both with worried looks on their faces. Shepherd wasn't one to call people into his office for a one on one unless it was important...or they did something wrong. Liz hoped it was the latter.

"What did you do Liz?"

"I'm trying to figure that out James. I haven't done anything...unless it's for that time I told Merrick to playfully fuck off." She chuckled. "Honestly I have no idea why he wants to talk to me."

"Whatever it is, it better be good."

"Tell me about it. And yes I'll tell you what happened, don't worry."

"You better, I am your commanding officer Liz."

Liz turned back to him, shaking her head and chuckled. "You know I didn't mean you. I meant these two."

"I know." He clapped her shoulder, then stood up. "We have team training in the morning at the time you meet with Shepherd, just come when you can."

"Yes, sir."

Rorke scoffed and walked off shaking his head. Leaving the rest laughing as he walked off.

Liz turned back to Dunn and Ramirez, tapping her fingers methodically on the grate they were sitting on. "So do you guys have anything to do today? I'm bored."

Ramirez hopped off the grate, turning to them. "I have to help Foley with something, so I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." He turned to Dunn and smirked. "Make sure to use a condom."

"What's a condom? Never heard of it before."

"Oh my god Jake." She snorted and shook her head. "We'll see you later James."

Ramirez walked off with a wave of his hand.

She turned back to Dunn, lightly shoving at his shoulder and laughed, as did he. They went quiet, gazing into each other's eyes. At that moment Liz was thinking, maybe Ramirez was right and they should act like a real couple instead of hiding it. So she leaned forward, making their lips meet.

Dunn's eyes widened briefly, then he settled into the kiss and hummed. He pulled away and smiled. "What was that for?"

"Just…..I wanted too. Maybe James _is_ right, maybe we should act like a couple from now on."

"I always thought pigs would be flying before James was ever right about something." They both chuckled. "I agree, I think we should show the base we're together."

He leaned over, kissing her once more before hopping off the crate and offering her his hand. She smiled and took it. He helped her off, intertwining their hands together before walking towards the barracks.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to my room. I figured you want to go somewhere private and since James isn't going to be back for awhile I thought we could just hang out in my room."

"That sounds perfect actually. I have my radio if anyone needs me."

On the walk back to Dunn's room, the hallways were pretty much bare. Everyone was off doing their jobs or relaxing if they had the day off. Which were few and far between when you're on the brink of war. And luckily, it looked like Dunn had the day off since he wasn't in full gear.

He opened the door for Liz, letting her go first. She smiled at him, then walked over to his bed and sat down. Moving to lean against the wall. Dunn shut the door, and joined her on the bed.

"I can't get over we lasted almost 6 months without anyone figuring us out." Dunn laughed and intertwined their hands together again. "6 months! I can't believe we've been together that long already."

"I know, it doesn't seem that long. But...I'm happy!"

"I'm happy too!" He let go of her hand, wrapping it around her shoulders and pulling her closer to him. "Meeting you was the best thing to happen to me."

"And meeting you was the best thing to happen to me." She looked over at him and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Being with you was the best decision I made. I feel so much more happy when I'm with you, I don't have to worry about anything."

"You shouldn't have to worry. I'm here for you Liz, no matter what." He kissed the top of her head, lingering there for a moment. "So how do you think your team will feel once they find out about us?"

"I know you are, and I'm grateful for that. As for my team, Rorke will be 100 percent okay with it. Merrick and Keegan will most likely not care, and my family should have a shit fit. That's nothing new."

She picked at the blanket and sighed. All she ever wanted was a family that supported her decisions, no matter what they were. But the more she diverged from the way her brothers' were, the more distance it put between her and her family. She just wasn't like that, and being someone she's not proved more harrowing than being at the front line.

"I'm sure if you told Rorke the truth about your family, I'm sure he will help. He has a soft spot for you, I can tell."

"I know he would, I just don't want him to get stuck in the middle, you know?"

Dunn nodded his head, then leaned over and kissed her. "Yeah. Well whatever your family tries to do to break us up, it's not going to happen."

"I love you!"

"I love you too!"

He moved back to his original spot beside her, wrapping his arm back around her shoulders - cuddling in each others arms for the time being.

The coziness didn't last long before Liz's radio went off, making both of them groan.

"Liz I need you in my office." said Rorke

"Be right there." She looked back over at Dunn and pouted her lip. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Okay." He leaned over, giving her a quick kiss. "If I'm not here, I'll be in the cafeteria."

"Sounds good."

**xXx**

She got to Rorke's office, knocking on the door a few times. She couldn't help but wonder what he wanted her for, if she did something wrong or if it was because of Shepherd. Either way she'll find out very soon.

"Come in."

She opened the door, giving him a small smile as she shut it - walking over to the chair in front of his desk where he sat and sat down. "You wanted to see me…..sir."

He chuckled and leaned back in his chair. "You're not in trouble Liz, you don't need to use any formalities."

"Oh." She perked up a bit, as the slight case of anxiety started to leave her. "Does this have anything to do with Shepherd then?"

"No it doesn't." He sighed, putting both elbows on his desk and leaned forward. "It has to do with your family."

Her eyes widened briefly, then she sighed. "How much did you hear?"

"Enough to know that you want off this squad."

"I don't want to be off the squad, I like it here. I like being apart of the Ghosts, I just hate be critiqued by my father all the time."

Rorke got up, walking over to the other side of the desk to sit in the empty chair next to her. "Why didn't you tell me? I could've done something."

"I didn't want to bring you into it." She maneuvered herself on the chair to face him, bringing her knees up to her chest. "You have enough on your plate as it is."

"Liz you're a member of this team and I would like to know if anything is going on. Look I don't care if I've known your dad for years, you're still apart of this team and if you're having problems with your own family I would like to know."

She sighed and tapped the chairs arms methodically. "I didn't want you and my dad to be at each other's throats. You know he would freak if I brought you into anything, I just hate that he critiques me because I'm not my brothers'."

Rorke maneuvered himself so he was facing her, elbow resting on the arm of the chair. "No you're not your brothers', you are your own person with a skill set that works for you. You are one of the most adaptable members on this team, no matter what happens or where we are, your head is always in the game. And you have a natural leading quality in you. Keegan has seen it, and so has Merrick and I."

"Really? No one has ever mentioned that to me."

Her eyes started to glisten, this was the first time she heard praise like this and it made her feel quite happy.

"Really! You'd make a helluva good Captain someday."

"Maybe I'll take your job someday." Liz said with a laugh. "I'm kidding I don't want that big of a responsibility."

"And you would hate all the paperwork." He chuckled. "So do you want me to speak to your dad?"

"I would, I hate the paperwork now. No, I don't want to make things worse, and Merrick and Keegan don't deserve to be caught in the middle."

"Alright, if you change your mind just let me know."

"I will." She stood up and stretched, and as happy as she was that Rorke knew she was much more eager on getting back to Dunn. "Can we keep my relationship with Dunn between us? I don't want them knowing just yet."

He stood up, easily towering over her. "Hey that's your life, you can date whoever you want. But yes, it'll stay between us."

"Thank you!"

"You're welcome!"

**xXx**

Liz headed back to Dunn's room, feeling a lot less anxious than before. Rounding the corner she spotted her brother Logan walking with Merrick. They quickly spotted her since she was the only one in the hallway.

"Where are you going? Your room isn't this way." asked Logan

"I know." She stopped in front of them. "I'm going to see Jake."

"Ah, you're going to see your boyfriend."

She rolled her eyes and Merrick looked down at her with a raised brow. "You have a boyfriend?"

"I do. I'm surprised you even figured it out Logan."

He scoffed and ruffled at his blonde hair. "It's kinda hard when I was on my way back to my room and saw you two making out in the hallway a few weeks ago."

Liz looked down at her feet, face turning beat red. She knew she felt a presence that night, but when she looked she saw nobody was there, figured it was just her brain playing tricks on her because they were out in the open.

"I knew I felt someone watching. I take it you didn't tell dad or Hesh because if you did, they'd say something about it."

"Exactly. I don't get why they would considering it doesn't affect your work. I mean I don't know how long you two have been dating but it's not messing with how you are on the field so I don't see any issues."

She blinked her eyes a few times, a little taken aback by how he seemed to not know about all the arguing between her and her dad and Hesh. She was sure Hesh would've told him about it - since he tells Logan everything.

"Wait you don't know about all the arguing between dad, Hesh and I?"

Logan looked over at Merrick with a raised brow, all he did was shrugged his shoulders, making Logan turn back to her. "No. I knew something had to have been up between you guys by how distant you are recently. I just didn't know it was this bad."

"Let's just say I'm getting sick and tired of being critiqued every time we come back from a mission." She sighed and crossed her arms, glancing between Logan and Merrick. "I just got out from talking with Rorke because he overheard Ramierz, Dunn and I talking about maybe me getting transferred over to their squad."

Merrick and Logan looked at each other in a mix of worry and surprise, then looked back over at her.

"What do you mean about getting critiqued?" Merrick asked

"When we come back from a mission my dad pulls me aside and tells me what I could've done better during the mission. Or how I should watch my brothers' more. It's frustrating."

"Are you serious? Dad's really pulling that shit again?" Logan shook his head and scoffed. "This is like when we were teenagers, all over again. Now it's worse."

Merrick looked at them with a raised brow and slight confusion on his face, that made Liz laugh. "Why don't you tell Merrick about our lovely teenage years. I have someplace to be."

He rolled his eyes and laughed. "Yeah yeah. Go have fun with your boyfriend. But before you go, how long have you two been dating?"

"Six months."

"Damn. Well have fun and I'll see you later."

"Oh I will."

She chuckled at the scoff Logan gave and started to head down to Dunn's room, hoping he was there and not in the cafeteria. Upon opening the door she saw he was indeed still in his room. She sighed in relief and took her spot back on his bed.

"How'd everything go?"

Liz moved her head onto his lap, looking up at him. "It went fine, Rorke knew about everything we talked about. He's not gonna do anything unless I ask him too. I'm not gonna make my full decision on hopefully being transferred until after the whole Shepherd thing tomorrow morning."

"I told you he would help." He began playing with her hair, like he did every time they were alone together. "I hope the Shepherd thing goes smoothly, then you can be with me. It would be nice being on the same squad, then I can watch your back instead of worrying my heart out about you."

"Yeah I know he would. And you'll be worrying your heart out about me no matter what, so don't fool yourself Jake." She laughed and sat back up. "Oh, on my way back here I ran into Logan and Merrick. My brother had no clue what was going on between our dad, Hesh and I. Which was surprising to say the least."

"Logan didn't know? Wow, I thought Hesh told him everything." He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. "Guess not. And of course I'm gonna worry about you no matter what. I don't want anything to happen to you."

"He probably knew Logan would be on my side, so why bother. He also knew about us, he said he saw us making out in the hallway a few weeks ago." She softly smiled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "Hey I don't want anything to happen to you either, but there's a lot of things that are out of our hands. You can worry about me, just not that much."

"Whatever you say babe."

**xXx**

Liz spent the rest of the day with Dunn, doing nothing but laying in bed and talking with each other. It felt nice to just have a day to themselves, instead of sneaking out any chance they got to see each other. Or Dunn sneaking over to her room in the middle of the night.

Now she was lying in her bed, wide awake while he was sound asleep next to her. Her mind couldn't leave the fact that Shepherd wanted to talk with her in the morning and she couldn't figure out what for. The only thing she can do is pray that it's nothing bad.


	2. Chapter 2

To say Liz got a good night's rest was an understatement, she couldn't sleep for the world. Even when Dunn's arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer to him in the night. Sleep never came. Her mind raced with endless possibilities on why Shepherd wanted to speak with her. Some good and some bad.

With an hour left until her meeting with him, she sat with Dunn, Ramirez and Logan in the mess hall drinking her fifth cup of coffee. She knew it was a bad idea to be drinking that much caffeine, it always made her jittery and knew she would pay for it later.

Her foot tapped methodically under the table as she took another sip, staring into space. The banter at the table became background noise, she had never felt so nervous before in her life. Being on the front-line didn't even compare to how she felt now.

She stopped tapping her foot when she felt Dunn's hand on her thigh, giving her a small, warm smile. "I'm sure everything is going to be fine. You're getting yourself worked up over nothing."

"You don't know that, we have no clue what Shepherd wants to talk to me about." She groaned and scrubbed a hand down her face. "I just want to get this over with."

"If it is bad then we can get very drunk, what'd ya say?" Ramirez quirked.

"Sounds good to me James." She turned to Dunn, a small smile on her face. "Thank you for trying to help ease my crazy nerves."

"I gotta make sure my girls alright. Even if things aren't alright." He leaned over giving her a quick kiss.

Her smile grew after he broke it, than she glanced over at her brother who was stuffing his face. "You've been offly quiet Logan."

"I'm eating." He said with a mouthful. He finished chewing his food and set his fork down. "You've always been like this, anxious before something big you don't know about. And every time it turns out fine."

"Yeah because it's usually Rorke telling me something, not Shepherd." She tapped her fingers on the table, glaring at him. "I don't trust him."

Dunn grabbed her hand and gently squeezed it, he didn't like her being so worked up, it wasn't good for her well being. He would rather have her usual self back instead of a massive ball of anxiety. He leaned over and whispered something in her ear. Logan and Ramirez tried to hear what he was saying but the mess hall was too loud to eavesdrop on them. But the smirk on Liz's face said it all.

"What sexual innuendo did Jake say now?" He rolled his eyes and went back to eating, but kept his eyes on both of them.

Liz scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I'm not telling you, that's for me and Jake to know and you to never find out."

Logan stood up from the table, grabbing his plate. "I need to head out for training, you guys have fun."

"Okay, I'll see you after the whole Shepherd debacle is done."

Logan nodded, then left, leaving Liz, Dunn and Ramirez to their conversation. Ramirez took another bite of his eggs, pointing his fork at Liz. "You know, I wouldn't have asked if it wasn't written all over your face. Dunn can't be that good in bed."

She glanced over to Dunn, seeing his mouth slightly gaping and brows narrowed into a straight line. "I think I'm okay in bed. Damn, I please Liz isn't that enough?"

"I don't know, do _you_ please her or is she faking it?" Ramirez took another bite, smirking as Dunn whipped his head to look over at her.

"I do please you, right?" His face was etched in worry and concern, his eyes scanning her face like his life depended on it.

Liz laughed and glanced over to Ramirez. "On the contrary, he's actually really good in bed." She turned back to Dunn. "Yes you do please me."

He let out a relieved sigh and fell back into his chair, grabbing his heart. "Oh hallelujah, I was scared for a moment."

"I'm sure you were." Liz laughed, patting his arm. "Ramirez is just jealous because you're getting laid and he's not."

"I am not jealous!" His voice cracked at her accusation, and in his offended state he dropped his fork on his plate, having it bounce off the glass plate and onto the floor. "Why would I be jealous? And how do you know I'm not getting laid?"

He leaned down, retrieving his dirty fork off the floor, then glared at her.

"James, jacking off isn't the same." She quirked a brow, and a small smirk formed on her face.

Dunn started to laugh hysterically while Ramirez just stared at her with his mouth gaping.

"I..I do not jack off." Ramirez grabbed a napkin, cleaning off his fork.

"Right! Like you get off base, and what Jake has told me is that you take quite long showers late at night when no one's around."

Before Ramirez could retort the comms went off. "I need Corporal Elizabeth Walker in my office."

She groaned when they went off, then looked over at them. "Time to get this over with."

"Good luck!" Dunn and Ramirez said in unison.

xXx

Liz took a deep breath and walked into Shepherd's office. Everything about him put her off, his mannerisms, the way he treats the men and women under his command, his voice, and that stupid mustache. She just wanted to get this over with and get as far away from him as she could possibly get.

"You wanted to see me sir?"

"Take a seat Corporal." He didn't look up from his file, just pointed at the chair in front of his desk. She rolled her eyes and took a seat. "You've heard of my Task Force 141, right Corporal?"

"Yes sir I have! I'm sure everyone has." Her mind started racing, why did he mention the 141?

"Good because you're getting transferred over to them. You are now under the command of Captain MacTavish." Shepherd finally looked up, meeting her gaze. To say she was stunned was an understatement, she was at a loss for words.

"I don't even know what to say, sir. This is all such a shock, I never thought I was worthy of being apart of the one-four-one."

"Save your thanks for Captain MacTavish, he was the one who went over your file and considered you the best candidate for the team. You leave tomorrow morning at 0700. Make sure you have everything with you before you go."

"Yes sir, thank you sir." She stood up to leave. Feeling every single emotion known to man. She was happy, but also sad. She didn't want to leave Dunn, or the Ghosts.

"One more thing Corporal." He handed her a piece of paper. "Give this to Captain Rorke, and make sure to hand in your Ghosts uniforms before you leave tomorrow."

"Yes sir."

"You can leave now."

He went back to his paperwork, not giving her any mind. Even after getting somewhat good news, he was still a raging dick.

xXx

As she walked to the gym, where her former team was, she couldn't stop looking at the paper in hand. It seemed so surreal, that she was now a part of the one-four-one, but there was still telling Dunn about it and that made her want to cry. Who knows how long it'll be before she sees him again.

She walked into the gym, seeing them all sitting down on the bleachers. Which was unusual, Rorke was never one to half-ass a training regime.

"So what did he want?" asked Logan

Liz stopped in front of them, staring absentmindedly at the paper. "I got transferred."

She heard a few gasps and some mumbling, then looked up to see their faces. Everyone looked shocked, and who could blame them, even she was shocked.

"Where did you get transferred? To Sergeant Foley's team?" Scoffed Hesh.

"You know, some of my friends are on Foley's squad. But no, I didn't get transferred to them. I got transferred over to Task Force 141, under the command of Captain MacTavish."

Just saying those words tugged at her heart. She was now a part of Task Force 141, best handpicked group of warriors on the planet. The only thing that made her a little excited was meeting people from different countries and Captain MacTavish so she can ask what he saw in her that made her the best candidate.

"Woo, way to go sis!" Cheered Logan. "That's a big honor, but when do you leave?"

"Tomorrow at 0700." She glanced over to Rorke and handed him the paper. "Shepherd told me to give this to you."

Rorke gave her a small smile and took the paper from her hands. "Hey I'm proud of you Liz and I'm sure you'll do fine under MacTavish's command."

Her face softened as she looked over at him, a small smile spreading across her own face. "Thank you! I'm sure I will be fine, it's just gonna be weird being with another team. I'm going to miss you guys. Well most of you."

"We're gonna miss you too kid. It won't be the same without you." said Keegan

"Who knows, maybe we'll be on a mission together in the future. The one-four-one does do joint missions occasionally." She looked over at her dad, noticing the not so happy look on his face. "Let me guess you think Hesh is a better fit for the one-four-one?"

"I do, you're not ready for it. You're too undisciplined for a team like that."

Liz scoffed and shook her head, glancing over to Rorke who looked annoyed over the assessment.

"What's your problem Elias? Liz has always been disciplined, she has always been a team player. I'm starting to think you don't like that she's better than Hesh."

She glanced over to Merrick and Keegan whose mouths were slightly gaping, as was Liz's. She never expected Rorke to call him out like that in front of everyone, but she would be lying if she said it didn't feel good.

"What are you even talking about?" Elias crossed his arms and acted like he didn't know what Rorke was talking about.

"You don't know? Let me tell you then." He pointed the paper at Liz, but kept his attention on Elias. "I had a little conversation with Liz yesterday, after I overheard her talking with Corporal Dunn and Private Ramirez about how you critique her on everything she does 'wrong' after a mission and how she should watch her brothers' more. It almost made her want to get reassigned to Foley's squad. That's what I'm talking about."

Merrick and Keegan glanced over at her, making her feel a little bit awkward. The look on Merrick's face though indicated he felt sorry, Logan must have told him everything from their teenage years. Keegan's face was unreadable, which wasn't shocking, but his eyes conveyed a little sadness or pity. She couldn't tell.

Elias' glanced over to Liz, anger taking over his face. She knew he would be angry about bringing Rorke into 'family' issues. She didn't care, she was done with being treated like the family disappointment. Hesh, for once didn't know what to do or say.

"It's true dad, you do critique her a lot more, and it shows that your wrong because you only do it when she's alone. Not when Rorke, Merrick or Keegan are around, just her. She's not Hesh and she's not me, she's her own person and has a skill set that is suitable for her and only her. Forcing her into someone she's not is only going to push her away. Do you really want that? Having one of your own kids hate you?"

Elias seemed to be a little taken aback by Logan's blunt response to the situation. It was like he wasn't expecting Logan to take her side.

"It doesn't matter anymore." Liz spoke up. "Tomorrow I'll be on another squad and things will be different."

Rorke turned his attention from Logan to her. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, besides I have someone else to worry about right now." She glanced towards the door and sighed.

She turned her head when she heard a radio go static, brow arched.

"Sergeant Foley this is Captain Rorke."

Liz's face softened while everyone glanced between her and Rorke, trying to figure out what was going on. Luckily it didn't take long for Foley to answer back.

"What can I do for you Captain?"

"Can you tell me where Corporal Dunn is?"

"He's surveying the new recruits in the pit today sir. Do you want me to send him to you?"

Liz chuckled by how worried Foley sounded, like Dunn did something wrong.

"No Sergeant, do you care if I send Liz over to join him?"

"Not at all Sir, but I though the Ghosts were training today?"

"We are, Liz isn't." He took a deep breath, glancing over at her. "It'd be best if she explains the situation to you."

"Alright Sir, tell her to stop by the firing range before going to the pit."

Rorke shut off his radio and gave Liz a nod. She mouthed the words 'thank you' before leaving the building.

The Afghanistan heat hit her as soon as she exited the building, sending a shiver down her spine. She slowly made her way to the firing range where Sergeant Foley was before heading to the pit to see Dunn. She still has no idea how to break it to him, the smart choice would be to just say it and get it over with, and figure things out from there.

As she neared the range she saw Foley and Ramirez watching some Rangers using the range. She didn't like Ramirez being there, knowing he would want to know what happened between her and Shepherd, he'll find out, just not now.

"Ah Corporal." Foley turned to Ramirez. "Ramirez take over while I talk to Corporal Walker."

Ramirez nodded, glancing over to Liz. "Yes Sir."

They made their way out of earshot of the rest of the group, luckily with the guns firing it was hard to hear them anyways.

Liz sighed and leaned against the wall that was next to her. "I had a meeting with Shepherd not to long ago and I got transferred."

She looked over at him, seeing the shock etched on his face. "Shepherd actually transferred you? Your family makes up the majority of the Ghosts, it must be important. Where did you get transferred too?"

"Task force one-four-one. Apparently Captain MacTavish went over my file and said I was the best candidate. I didn't even know my file was sent there, it's all too weird in my eyes." She glanced over to Ramirez who was giving one of the Ranger's a tip on something, she couldn't hear.

"The one-four-one? Congrats Liz." He held his fist out, and she bumped it with her. "What about Dunn then? I was worried he did something to upset Captain Rorke."

"Thanks Sarge." She chuckled and pushed herself off the wall. "No, he didn't, I think I'm the only one he talks to that's from the Ghosts. Anyways, he's actually my boyfriend and.."

"You want to tell him and spend your last day with him, correct?"

"Yes Sir."

"Alright Corporal, that's all I have him doing today is watching the new recruits in the pit, not the best way to spend your last day I suppose."

"It beats doing nothing Sarge."

"Good point. I'll let you get over to Dunn, I'm sure he would love the company."

"Alright. And he probably will." She chuckled and left for the pit with the wave of her hand.

The pit wasn't far from the firing range and each step she took hearing the crunch of the sand beneath her footfalls her heart began beating faster. And a lump in her throat began to form.

She stopped at the entrance of the pit, looking down the flight of stairs leading to it. She took a deep breath, but before she could even take a step she heard Dunn's voice over the intercom, meaning someone was running the pit. Just the sound of his voice made her heart skip a beat and butterflies flutter in her stomach.

The sudden transfer was opening her eyes to how much she actually loves Dunn, and now she wasn't sure if this transfer was a good thing. She just didn't want to leave him.

She let out the breath she was holding and walked down the stairs, just in time to see who was in the pit. No one she recognized, must be from the new group that just came in.

"Alright, I've seen worse. You've got a few rough edges though. Okay, head upstairs and regroup with your team, or you can go back in and run the course again." Dunn pushed himself off the fence and waited for the new guy to figure out what he wanted to do.

Liz walked a little further, meeting where the two men stood. "Hey."

Dunn looked over at her, face lighting up. "Hey, I wasn't expecting to see you here. Training already done?"

Her face faltered and she sighed. "We need to talk."

"Okay."

They glanced over to see the guy setting his weapons down, Liz was secretly thanking whatever god there is that he didn't want to run the pit again. Leaving them alone. She glanced over to see Dunn closing the gun crates for them to sit on, then looked over at her with a worried look.

She walked over, sitting down next to the table, Dunn taking a seat right next to her.

"Is this about what happened with Shepherd?" He grabbed her hand, giving it a small squeeze.

The lump in her throat starting to grow bigger, and tears started to well in her eyes. She turned to him, gazing into his brown eyes. "I got transferred, I leave tomorrow morning at 0700."

She watched every bit of color leave his face, making this so much worse.

"No! To who?" He moved closer to her, taking her hand in both of his gloved ones.

She nodded her head. "I'm just as upset as you are about this. To the primadonna squad."

"Shepherd transferred you over to the primadonna squad?" His brows narrowed into a thin line, lips pursed. "Why? You're already a part of an elite team why the hell does Shepherd want you join his Task Force?"

"I don't know, all he said was that Captain MacTavish read over my file and said I was the best candidate for the team." She glanced up at the observation booth where two men stood, then back to Dunn. "Thing is, I never knew he even sent my file"

"Figures he would do something like that." Dunn scoffed. "I can't believe this is our last day together and we can't even make it worthwhile."

Liz gave him a small smile, leaning over to give him a quick kiss that lingered on both their lips. She knew what he meant by 'worthwhile', he always wanted to get off base for a few hours, just him and her out of their military uniforms. He would talk about that all the time, now it won't come true, and in a way she can live with that, spending her last day with him was more important than going off base.

"Don't say things like that Jake, we're spending my last day on base together and that means the world to me." She moved over to him, placing her hand on top of his.

"I know I'm sorry, I just don't want you to go, I'm gonna miss you." He wiped the few tears threatening to fall with the back of his gloved hand and laughed. "What about us? Are we.."

"No! We are not breaking up because of this, we can make it work. I'm not ready to give up on us over this transfer."

Dunn's face softened and he let out a relieved breath. At that moment all the noise surrounding them became background noise, muffling in his ears. All he could hear was her soothing voice telling him it was okay.

"A long distance relationship." He wasn't talking to anyone, the words just slipped from his mouth. Like he needed to hear himself say it. "I'm gonna hate not hearing your voice everyday or seeing your smile, or seeing you. This sucks babe."

She pushed back, bringing her knees up to her chest. "Tell me about it. I'm gonna miss everything about you, your jokes, the way you would play with my hair when I would lay my head on your lap, the way you would always make me laugh when I was upset. Now I'm gonna have no one."

The tears started to well in her eyes again, she hopes she can make friends quickly with some of her new teammates so she won't feel too alone. But there was only one person who could make her happy and laugh when she wasn't having a good day and he was staying at Fire Base Phoenix.

"I'm sure you'll make friends easily." He sighed. "I know it's not the same and I can't even tell you to call me whenever you wanted, we can't because of stupid military protocal." He scoffed and shook his head. "My girlfriend could be having the worst day of her life and I can't do anything about it."

He kicked at the dirt beneath his boot, sending a rock into the air. Liz turned to him, placing her hand on his cheek and turned his head so he was looking at her. She could see the tears now, threatening to fall. She wiped them away with her thumb and gave him a chaste kiss.

"We'll still be able to call each other every now and again, and write letters, hopefully. I'll always be waiting for that call where I can hear your voice again." Her eyes lit up when she thought of something, forcing a confused look from Dunn. "Do you still have that voice recorder?"

"Yeah, I haven't touched it, why?"

"Record something for me, then when I feel upset or just miss you. I'll be able to hear your voice."

"Why didn't I think of that?" He rolled his eyes and shook his head. "But I won't have anything to hear your voice."

"Yes you will. Remember a little over a month ago, I had to leave the base with Rorke?" He nodded. "I took the luxury to buy myself one when I was in town. I recorded something on there and was going to give it to you when I felt the time was right. Now it is."

"Okay, I'll record something when my shift is done. At least I'll have a little time to think about what I'm gonna say." He looked in front him, eyes darting down to the dirt. "I just wish you weren't leaving so soon, or at all."

Liz sighed through her nose, moving over to link their arms together and rested her head on his shoulder. "I know, I don't want to leave either. Who else is gonna 'secretly' pleasure me during the night."

Dunn chuckled and rested his head on top of hers. "Uh no one." He quickly yanked his head off hers, looking down at her sad eyes. "Wait this will be our last night together, for who knows how long. We need to make it special."

"We will, I have something planned."

"Like what?"

"It's a surprise. I'll tell you tonight."

He sulked his shoulders like a little kid and sighed. "Fine."

She snorted, leaning over to move his neck guard out of the way to kiss at his neck. "You'll enjoy it."

"I already am!" Liz pulled away with a small smile on her face, but Dunn whined in disapproval and pouted. "Why'd you stop?"

"Maybe because we're out in the open."

"Oh, right." He chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "I forgot."

Liz laughed. "Of course you did."

xXx

Night approached fast to her dismay and now she was returning her uniforms to Rorke before spending her finally night with Dunn.

She knocked on the door to his office and waited. It felt bittersweet handing over the uniforms she's worn for the past few years.

"Come in."

Liz opened the door, giving Rorke a small smile before shutting it again. "I'm returning my uniforms. God that sounds so strange."

Rorke gave her a small smile and set his pen down. "It's more strange knowing you won't be on the team."

She set her uniforms that were neatly folded onto his desk and sat down in one of the chairs. "I know, I'm gonna miss you guys."

"We're gonna miss you too Liz."

She averted her eyes for a moment than back to him, locking eyes. "Before I don't get the chance too, I just wanted to say thank you, for everything. Growing up in the shadows of my brothers' was tough and to come here and be treated with respect and equality will be something I will never forget."

"Truthfully Liz if I knew how bad your life was, I would have adopted you as my own. But your father would have to sign over his rights and he wouldn't do that."

"Probably not because it would make him look bad, but neglecting his own daughter is fine." She sighed and stood up. "I should get going, Dunn's waiting for me in my room."

Rorke stood up with a smirk on his face making her chuckle. "I'm sure I don't need to tell you to use protection?"

"What's protection?" She laughed when she saw his face falter, and he sighed in relief. "I'm joking, we always use protection."

"Good, I don't think the world is ready for a little Dunn."

Liz chuckled and went to hug him. "Don't be rude Gabriel. He's actually a really sweet and funny guy."

He wrapped his arms around her and laughed. "I'm only joking. If he makes you happy then I'm happy. Now go spend your last night with him."

xXx

As the kiss deepened and the clothes were discarded Liz found herself getting more nervous. The hours were flying by and before she knows it, it'll be time to leave. Time to leave her family, friends and the man that she loves, not knowing when she'll ever see them again.

Dunn kissed down her neck, blindly reaching over for the condom that was on the nightstand. He lifted his head, looking down at her. She brought her hand up to cover the one of his that held the condom. She took it from him, setting it back.

"No, this is our last night together, I just want to feel you."

He stared at her blankly for a moment, blinking his eyes a few times. "Are you sure? Like really really sure?"

"I've never been more sure in my life."

He nodded his head and leaned down to kiss her - his hand sneaking down between them and with a snap of his hips, buried himself inside her.

Liz wrapped her arms around his neck, tears welling in her eyes. This was their last night together sharing a bed, tomorrow she'll be in a different country with a different squad. But all she wanted was the man on top of her.

They've lost count of how many times they've slept together, only this time it felt different. It felt more passionate and sweet, like Dunn was savoring every moment. And she couldn't blame him, because she too was savoring each touch and trust of his hips. How his hand grazed down her side or how his lips always kissed the small scar on her collarbone. Those were some of the things she'll desperately miss when she's gone.

She clutched onto him tighter as her orgasm overwhelmed her, crying out his name.

It wasn't long before his own orgasm hit him, as he stilled inside her - spilling hot globs of semen, he gazed into her brown eyes. And suddenly he felt like his heart was breaking, this was it, their last night together.

"I wish you didn't have to leave in the morning." He pulled out and collapsed on the bed beside her. "It's not fair."

Liz moved over to snuggle up against him, head resting on his chest. "I know it's not fair and I would've told Shepherd to fuck off if I knew it wouldn't cost me my job. It's not the end of the world Jake, we'll see each other again. And when I'm on leave, I'll come and visit. Or who knows the one-four-one is known to come to the base and use the pit every now and then, maybe that'll happen soon."

"You're being very optimistic right now babe. I don't know if I can and I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize, the only reason I'm even slightly excited to be going is because I want to know why MacTavish picked me and what it'll be like being away from my family and the constant haggling from my father."

"That is a good thing for you, to be away from him." He moved his head down to kiss her forehead. "I'm just going to miss you. A lot."

"I'm going to miss you too!" She swung her leg over his waist and straddled him. "Now instead of using that mouth of your to mope, why don't you use it on something a lot better?" She watched his eyes turn black with lust, flipping their position and crushed their lips together. "Now why don't you be a good Ranger and have that mouth lead me to a very good orgasm?"

"Yes ma'am!"

xXx

Liz and Dunn were heading for the chopper hand in hand, neither of them saying anything. When they headed outside Liz saw Rorke, Logan, Merrick, Keegan and Ramirez all waiting for her. It made her feel a little bit better and put a tear to her eye.

"I wasn't expecting to see you guys."

"Like we would let you leave without saying goodbye." said Ramirez

She smiled and let go of Dunn's hand as they walked over to them. She glanced between them, a sudden sadness hitting her. This would be her last time seeing them for who knows how long and that sucked the most. At least she got to spend her last night on base in the arms of someone she truly loves.

"I'm going to miss you guys!"

"We're gonna miss you too kid."

"The Ghosts isn't going to be the same without ya."

"Thanks Keegan and Merrick. And uh Merrick, can you put Hesh in his place from time to time for me?"

"Absolutely."

Everyone laughed, only to have that laughter died down when Shepherd approached them. "Say your goodbyes Corporal and meet me on the chopper in five."

"Yes sir." She glared at him as he walked away, then turned back to everyone. "I guess this is it."

Logan walked over to her and gave her a tight hug. "I'm gonna miss you Liz, it won't be the same without my annoying little sister."

She wrapped her arms around him and sighed. "I'm gonna miss you too Logan."

He let her go and that's when she saw his eyes were glistening, she gave him a small smile before giving her attention to Ramierz.

"Don't worry I'll keep that boyfriend of yours in line."

Liz laughed and went to hug him. "I'm gonna miss you James."

"I'm gonna miss you too Liz. Now go and show the primadonna squad how it's done."

She looked up to see Rorke behind him, a small smile spreading across both of their faces. Ramirez let her go and stood to the side. "In my eyes no one will ever be a better commanding officer than you are and I'm grateful to have been under your command."

"That's probably the sweetest thing you've ever said to me." He leaned down to hug her. "And you were one of the best soldiers I had the pleasure of working with, much better than Merrick."

"Hey."

Liz chuckled and let him go, then turned to Dunn, who has been uncharacteristically quiet. That's when the tears started to well in her eyes. Rorke seemed to have noticed since he told everyone to give them space. So Liz and Dunn watched everyone walk towards the door, where they stood waiting.

"I'm going to miss you so much Lizzy!"

She jumped into his arms, letting her bag fall to the ground. "I'm going to miss you so much too Jakey!"

He set her down, letting her go to hold both of her hands in his. "I love you! And like what James said, go show the primadonna squad how it's done."

"I love you too!" Liz let go of his hands, leaning down to grab her bag and sling it over her shoulder. "I should go before Shepherd gets pissed."

Dunn's face softened than he crushed their lips together, not caring that anyone was looking or that Shepherd was in the vicinity. Liz hummed and relaxed as his tongue slipped past her lips. After a moment he broke it, both of them panting.

"You weren't leaving without a goodbye kiss!"

"I wasn't going to anyways!" She looked over at the chopper and sighed. "I love you Jake and please be safe!"

"Always!" He gave her one last hug and kiss to the temple. "I love you too and you too. Please be safe you have no idea what it would do to me if I lost you!"

"I promise!"

She took a deep breath and headed for the chopper, once in and her bag secured she sat down with a sigh. As the chopper lifted off she waved goodbye to her friends and family, waiting until they were out of view before turning her attention to her hands in her lap. Now she was on her way to her new home, and new team. She just hopes it'll all be worth it in the end.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: I'm gonna try and update this more frequently but don't hold your breath. There will also be more action in the next chapter. This one was just Liz being introduced to Soap, Ghost and Roach. I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

As the chopper came to a halt in overcast Hereford Liz let out a long, heavy sigh. Even though she hated leaving Dunn, she was happy she got out of hot as hell Afghanistan and into a more cooler environment. And away from her family.

She looked out onto the landing pad, seeing a few squads in the distance training, a tank parked by what looked like an obstacle course and a bunch of Humvee's parked in the distance.

With a sigh through her nose she got out of the chopper and threw her bag over her shoulder and followed Shepherd to a man, with a Mohawk waiting for them on the platform.

"Captain MacTavish meet Corporal Walker."

"Ah, so you're Captain MacTavish. It's nice to finally put a face to a name."

"Aye, welcome to the one-four-one Corporal." He held his hand out for her to shake, which she happily obliged.

"Thanks, I'm happy to be here Captain." She gave him a small smile and let go of his hand. That's when she noticed how gorgeous his eyes were, they looked like the clear blue ocean and you just wanted to swim in them.

"MacTavish why don't you show her around and have her meet the rest of the team."

"Yes sir."

Liz rolled her eyes and watched him leave, then scoffed. Her scoff forced Soap to turn his head and look at her with a raised brow.

"Don't like the General lass?"

"Mind if I speak freely?" She asked with a small smile.

"Not at all."

She took a deep breath and fixed the bag across her shoulder. "No I don't, something in me says he'll betray us any chance he gets. Especially if it makes him a hero."

Soap stared at her with a shocked expression on his face. It made her chuckle. "You really think that? Shepherd doesn't seem like the type to betray his team."

"Shepherd lost 30,000 troops under his command when that nuke detonated in the Middle East. That'll change a man. I don't trust him."

He nodded his head and sighed through his nose. "How about I show you around and meet some of the other lads. A few are already dying to meet you."

They began to walk down the stars and Liz laughed. "Are they now?"

"Yup. I think it's mostly due to the fact you're the first woman on the team."

As she followed him to one of the nearby buildings she couldn't help but smile to herself. The first woman to be a part of Task Force One-Four-One, the best hand picked warriors on the planet. She just hopes she can do her job well.

"Well whatever the reason is, I'm excited to meet them."

Soap stopped in his tracks and turned to her. "Before I forget, since we're limited on room you'll be rooming with Lieutenant Riley or Ghost as we all call him. Hope that won't be a problem."

"Ghost? Cool name. Not at all, I had to share a room with my brothers' before, so I'm sure I can handle rooming with the Lieutenant."

"Okay. He's a good lad anyways and I'm sure you two will get along."

They began to walk again, heading towards the mess hall of the base. This was the first time being on the SAS base and it was everything she imagined it to be. And more. Being surrounded by people who went through selection, all the training and pain that paid off so they could be apart of the SAS, made her feel honored in a way.

But to be apart of Task Force One-Four-One was something she never expected or even wanted until it happened. Now she saw a brighter future, a future away from her family. Maybe it was the change she truly needed all along.

They came to a building not far from where they landed, as Soap opened the door she peeked in, seeing what looked like a CGB coarse. They walked in a bit, seeing another squad running the coarse.

"The new recruits normally run the coarse when they join, since today it's clearly busy I'll have you run it tomorrow."

She looked over at him and nodded her head. "Who has the best time?"

"Ghost with 17 seconds."

"I can beat that."

Soap snorted and chuckled. "I hope you can, he's been on top for far too long. Once he loses his top spot he becomes competitive, he'll be out here all day trying to beat the score."

"If he does then I'll just beat his score again." She chuckled. "I'm competitive too, guess it happens when you have two older brothers'."

"I'm sure we all have some competitiveness inside of us. I spent hours trying to beat Gaz's score on this bloody thing." He looked over to see the slight confusion on her face, and shook his head, giving her slight apologetic smile. "Gaz was a member of Bravo Team, he was killed by Zakhaev a few years ago. Before the Task Force was created."

"Ah, I'm sorry. Did you ever beat it? I'm sure he'd be happy if you did."

"Not yet, I'm close." He took one last glance over at the CGB coarse, then turned around. "Come on, there's quite a bit more to show you."

As Soap showed her around and she met quite a bit of people from the one-four-one, Royce, Meat, Scarecrow and a few others they were now heading towards the rooms so she could put her stuff away and relax before the next mission, which happens to be in a few days.

"And this is your room." Liz looked at the number twenty-two, easy to remember. He opened the door for her, letting her go in first and that's when she saw her new roommate, sitting on his bed with a book. "This is Lieutenant Riley."

"You must be Corporal Walker?" He asked as he set his book aside and stood up.

"I am and you can call me Liz. If you want, I don't really like the formalities when not out in the field." She chuckled and rubbed the back of her neck before setting her bag on the bed.

"Neither do I. You can call me Ghost or Simon, whichever you prefer." He gave her a small smile and held out his hand for her to shake, which she obliged. "It's nice to finally meet you Liz."

"It's nice to meet you too Simon." She mirrored his smile as she shook his hand, seeing how blue his eyes were. Almost as blue as MacTavish's.

"Alright. Welcome aboard Liz, we're happy to have ya."

"Thanks." She turned her attention to Soap, giving him a small smile. "And I'm happy to be here."

Soap bowed his head before leaving the room, closing the door behind him as left.

Ghost sat back down on his bed with a sigh and stretched his neck as she sat down on hers and went to her bag. "Neck stiff?"

"Yeah, I tend to sit in a certain way and never move my bloody neck when I read. Bad habit." He grabbed his book and placed it on his nightstand. "Guess it's a good time to stop or I'm gonna have a kink in my neck."

"I hate those." She unzipped her duffel bag, taking out most of her clothes she brought and set them aside. "At least you can find a comfortable position to stay in, it takes me a while to find one and then I get uncomfortable five minutes later."

"Years of practice."

Liz chuckled and went to put some of her clothes away in her closet. She laid her shirts across the foot of her bed and picked up a hanger from the closet. "So where are you from Simon? Besides England obviously."

"Was it the accent that gave it away?" He chuckled. "Manchester. What about you?"

"Just a tad." She hung the first shirt up and grabbed the next, along with a hanger. "San Diego, sunny southern California."

Ghost leaned forward, placing his arms on his thighs and raised a brow. "Didn't like growing up there?"

She sighed through her nose as she placed the second shirt in the closet. "I did, in the beginning. Things started to change when I turned twelve and..lets just say I don't have a good relationship with my family, just my brother Logan."

He nodded his head, giving her a small, yet sad smile. "I can understand that. I'm not close with mine either, it was one of the reasons I joined the Army."

She couldn't help but mirror it back to him. "I'm not the one to tell my personal life to someone I just met but...the only reason I joined the Army in the first place was because it was my only option." She moved her clothes aside and sat down on the foot of the bed. "My dad kinda forced me into this life."

"Why?"

"He had this thing about putting us, my brothers' and I through these trials growing up. He would take us into the wilderness and have us find our own food, our own water, how to make weapons. You get the gist." She inhaled a deep breath and exhaled it a few seconds later. "I tagged along in the beginning until I started to think for myself and realize I didn't want this. That didn't matter to my dad, nothing I liked matter to him. Once I turned seventeen I joined the Army."

Ghost's brows furrowed into a thin line and he sighed through his nose. But Liz could see his hand clenched in a fist. "Wanker. I'm sorry Liz, why don't you just retire and go do what you truly want to do?"

His face softened upon her gaze and she relaxed a bit more under his. She only just met him and she felt quite comfortable in his presence.

"It's okay." She got up to go back to what she was doing. "Once I joined I kinda made a deal with myself that I wanted to be better than my prodigal brother, let's just say he and my dad weren't too happy I was transferred over her and my brother wasn't." She placed the shirt on the hanger and in the closet. "Said I was too undisciplined."

"Undisciplined? What kinda bollocks is that? Soap and I both have read over your file, multiple times. Undisciplined was not in there. Reckless? Yes, that's for another time."

She laughed and place the last shirt inside her closet. But that smile didn't last long and it turned into confusion. "Wait who's Soap?"

"Oh the Captain." He laughed and rubbed the back of his neck. "It's his nickname."

Liz slowly nodded her head, contemplating what he just said to her. "Soap? Alright-y then. I'm not gonna ask why." She sat back down on the bed and took out the rest of her clothes. "About my recklessness, that's not me, at least not the real me. Just.."

She closed her eyes and sighed, looking away from him and down at the stuff in front of her. She wanted to tell him, but a part of her was having issues being opened, like always.

She looked down at her knee when she felt a hand on it, giving it a light squeeze. Looking over to see Ghost giving her a nod that it was okay to tell him.

"I was never good enough in my father's eyes, he would ridicule me after every mission saying I should watch my brothers' more I might learn something…"

Ghost removed his hand and watched her, seeing her face contorted in anger and sadness. It made him feel for her, he knew what it was like to have an emotionally abusive father and how it can fuck with you. And it was beginning to make sense on why she was reckless.

"Your recklessness was out of anger."

"Yeah." She nodded her head.

"Well you're not with them now, you're with the one-four-one. We work as a team, we're all equals here."

A smile started to spread across her face and a weight was lifted off her shoulders. "I knew I was gonna like it here."

"Aye as you should. You're apart of the best hand picked warriors on the planet, I don't see any of your family here, now do I?"

"No." She laughed. "It feels nice to be apart of a team that's gonna treat me as their equal and not what my family did."

"Well your family is full of wankers."

"No argument there." She grabbed her pants and stood up, walking over to her dresser. "Do you have any siblings Simon?"

He sat back against his headboard of his bed, placing his hands in his lap and let out a

sigh. "One, a younger brother."

She nodded her head as she opened a drawer to her dresser, placing them inside. "Do you guys have a good relationship or is it like mine? Since you said you don't have a good one with your family."

Ghost went quiet for a moment, looking down at his hands with a sad expression on his face. It made Liz's heart skip a beat and she felt a pang of guilt. "I'm sorry that I asked, I can tell it's a difficult subject."

He looked up at her, a small apologetic smile spreading across his own face. "It's okay, no need to beat yourself up over it. To answer your question, no we don't."

She closed the dresser drawer and sat back down on her bed with a sigh. "It sucks doesn't it? You're close growing up and then all of a sudden things change and you're now suddenly strangers."

"Yeah." Ghost went quiet again while she fumbled through the rest of her stuff in her duffel bag. Pulling out a journal, a small box which he figured had pictures in it and blanket which made him quirk his brow. "Out of everything you just pulled out I wasn't expecting a blanket."

Liz chuckled and looked down at it for a brief moment and then back to him. "Yeah, it was a birthday gift from Dunn. It's super soft."

"Dunn? As in Corporal Dunn?" She offered him a feel and he sat up to oblige, taking a part of it between his fingers. "Oh that is really soft."

"Told ya." She set it down beside her, running her hand over it. "And yup, I spent most of my time on base with him and Ramierz, and my brother Logan when he wasn't trying to flirt with Sergeant Keegan."

"Sounds like someone has a crush." He laughed and sat back against his headboard, placing his hands behind his head. "Has his flirting succeeded?"

"He has a big crush, it's pretty cute to see actually. I've never seen him so...in love before." She grabbed a handful of her intimates and threw them into a drawer in the dresser - thinking she'll come back and sort them out later. "No it hasn't, Logan's a pretty bad flirt so it wouldn't surprise me if Keegan thought he was a bumbling idiot."

Liz grabbed her empty bag and placed it under her bed, then moved up to sit against the wall with a content sigh.

"Maybe he'll get the courage to ask him out someday." He looked over at her, meeting her gaze. "You're quite easy to talk to Liz, you know that?"

"I highly doubt it. I was just thinking the same about you."

She chuckled and a smile started to spread across her face. When she got here, she thought it would be a little awkward at first between them, that couldn't have been farther from the truth. She felt automatically comfortable around him, which she liked since they were sharing a room together. Hell she already opened up about her family troubles to him and that's something she hardly does to someone she just met like an hour ago. This transfer was turning out to be the best thing to happen to her.

"Really?" Shock showed on his face and he removed his hands from behind his neck and into his lap. "No ones told me that before."

"Well I can't speak for everyone else, just myself but yeah, you are easy to talk to. I think it's your laid back attitude."

She grabbed the box next to her, sitting cross legged on the bed and set it in front of her.

"I might have to yell at MacTavish for that later." He chuckled. "So are you excited for the mission in a few days?"

Liz laughed and looked up from her box. "I am actually. It'll be a nice change to be with a new group of people. At least I know I won't get ridiculed afterwards."

"I'm sure if you want to get ridiculed you could ask Soap? He wouldn't mind."

"Haha funny. You know what else will be funny? When I beat your time on the CQB course."

Ghost arched a brow and sat up more, meeting her gaze with an intense look. "Will you now lass? Don't get ahead of yourself now."

A smirk started to spread across her face and she leaned forward. "Don't get too cocky Simon you'll be in second place very soon."

"I'll believe it when I see it." He leaned back against his headboard with a smug look on his face that made Liz scoff. "What?"

"I didn't say anything." She looked back down in the box with a smirk on her face and pulled out a few pictures. "I think you're hearing things Simon."

"I heard that scoff." He chuckled. "So have you met Roach yet? He was very excited to meet you."

She saw him roll his eyes and shake his head, making her chuckle in reply. "No I haven't, apparently he's not on base."

"Where the bloody hell did he go? I was with him not even two hours ago."

Liz shrugged her shoulders and looked through the pictures, trying to find the one with her, Dunn and Ramierz out in the town to put in the frame she has. Once she found it and placed it in the frame she put it on her nightstand.

It caught Ghost's attention as he leaned over to look at it, then leaned back against his headboard. "I met Dunn once, years ago. Does he still crack jokes at the wrong time?"

"Oh god yes." She thought back on her days with Dunn and how he would crack a joke or some sexual innuendos at the worst possible time. During training, out in public, when they were being punished for said sexual innuendos. It made her miss him! "I don't think that will ever change with him."

"I figured that much. So have you met Roach yet? He was very excited to meet you."

"No I haven't. So far I've only met a few Royce, Meat, Scarecrow and a few others."

Ghost nodded his head, then crossed his arms. "I'm sure you'll get to meet him before the day ends. He's a good lad, a little accident prone."

Liz laughed and put the rest of the pictures in the box and pushed it aside. "Sounds like my brother Logan. He was always getting hurt on missions."

"Sounds like they would get along greatly." He chuckled. "Hungry by any chance?"

The moment Ghost mentioned food her stomach began to growl, she hasn't eaten much since yesterday afternoon after she found out about her transferral. She was too nervous to eat, now she was here and more comfortable she was starving.

"Starving actually, I haven't eaten much since yesterday afternoon."

"Do you wanna get some late lunch?"

"Yeah sure." She moved off her bed and stood up. "You haven't eaten yet?"

He swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, slightly towering over her small frame. "No I haven't, I like to wait until the crowd thins down before I get my lunch."

"Don't like crowds I take it? Neither do I."

"We're gonna get along famously Liz."

She laughed as she followed him out of their room.

**xXx**

Well Ghost was right, the cafeteria was pretty empty minus a few people and it was only a little after one in the afternoon. Then again it wouldn't be unheard of for a military base, everyone normally has something to do.

They both picked up a sandwich and a bottle of water, though Liz did pick up an orange as well. Then she followed him to a table in the corner, that made her softly laugh.

The small laugh seemed to have caught his attention because as soon as she sat down across from him she saw he had an eyebrow quirked. "What was the laugh for?"

"Oh it was nothing, you just picked a table in the corner. I did the same thing at the other base."

"Ah, I like the corner it makes me feel like I'm not…"

"Surrounded by people?" Liz finished.

"Exactly." He opened his sandwich as did she with her and then he looked over at her. "The noise that comes with big crowds makes me anxious. I don't like being in them."

She took a bite of her sandwich as she heard him talk, quickly realizing that she had quite a bit in common already with Lieutenant Riley and that made her decently happy.

She swallowed the food in her mouth before she spoke. "Same here. I try to avoid them at all costs. Though I do find myself fine in them if I'm with someone I'm really comfortable with."

"Makes sense." He took a bite of his sandwich, and Liz opened her water to take a drink. "I guess I haven't found that person yet."

"Maybe someday you will."

He gave her a small smile and they both went back to eating. The only noise to be heard was the other few people in the room talking about an upcoming mission they had and how they were excited to finally be getting some action. It made her chuckle.

As lunch went on and she was half done with her sandwich Ghost finally spoke up. "So how did you and Dunn meet?"

"I accidentally walked into him." She laughed. "I was talking with Logan and I rounded the corner and walked right into him. He made some lame ass joke, I joked back and viola, friendship."

He snorted and took a sip of his water. "Sounds typical for Dunn to make a friend that way." The sound of someone's voice made his ears perk up and he glanced over to the door and then back to her. "Roach is coming."

She looked over at the door to see a few of the other men come walking in, wondering which one was Roach. Luckily for her it didn't take long for her to find out since he caught her eye almost immediately. Then again she was the only female on base.

He said his goodbyes to the men he was with and walked over to her and Ghost.

"So you must be Corporal Walker. I'm Gary."

"You can call me Liz. Nice to meet you Gary."

She shook his hand and he sat down next to Ghost. Liz could tell he was early to mid thirties, blonde hair was cut short and he had gorgeous brown eyes. And he was American.

"It's nice to meet you too Liz." He gave her a small smile that she mirrored back. "So how do you like the 141 so far?"

"I've only been here a few hours, but I like it, it's a lot better than the last base I was at. The weather is also cooler than the Afghanistan heat."

"If you like cloudy and rainy, than England is your place."

"The weather ain't that bad here you numpty." Ghost quipped.

Roach held his hands up in defense, making her laugh. "Hey I'm not complaining about the weather, sometimes I miss the sun that's all."

"Mmm." Ghost rolled his eyes and shook his head. "The suns still out Roach, just behind some clouds."

"That's not what I meant." He narrowed his eyes at him and then turned back to her. "I'm sorry you have to room with him."

She laughed, and glanced over to Ghost. "He seems fine by me."

"Just wait, he'll get annoying after a few weeks."

"Just have to wait and see."

They spent another hour just talking, getting to know one another. She learned he was from Portland, Maine, joined the Army at eighteen and made the SAS out of a bet. That part made her chuckle. Who joins the SAS off a bet? Gary does apparently. But she had to give him credit for that, the SAS was hard to get in, especially for an American. She also learned he had a sister who was learning how to become an engineer. All in all she could see herself getting closer to him as time went on.

Now after a long flight and day of meeting people she was ready for bed. The only thing she needed to get used to again was rooming with someone, thankfully she could still vividly remember what it was like to room with her brothers', so anything Ghost does in his sleep wouldn't really shock her at this point.

Once she finished shading in the sketch she had going on since Afghanistan, she closed her journal and placed it on her nightstand, shutting off her light and laid down. Before she closed her eyes she thought back on the past two days. How, in the beginning she was nervous and kinda upset on being transferred because she didn't want to leave Dunn. Now that she's here and has met a few members of the one-four-one she was happy about this transfer. For once in her life, she was content and looking forward to what the future brings. Like beating Ghost's time on the CQB tomorrow morning.


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning Liz was quite excited to do the CQB course and see if she could actually beat Ghost's score. But first, breakfast. It was better to do it with a full stomach than an empty one.

"So you ready to lose your spot Simon?"

He let out a scoff and rolled his eyes. "Please."

"I can't wait to see your face when you go from number one, to number two after I'm done." Liz gave him a smirk and took a bite of her eggs. "And I'll do it all with a pistol."

He took a bit of his eggs and shook his head, deep down he knew she was more than capable to take him off his top spot, as was anyone else on this base. But it was her fire, the will to be at the top, the one thing she always had to fight for. There wasn't a doubt in his mind he would be losing his top spot this morning.

"Only a pistol? Someone is getting very cheeky already."

"It's lighter and I'm quick on my feet."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Liz scoffed at the smirk spreading across his face and went back to her breakfast. She couldn't wait to see his face when she beats his time in her first go. However she was a little bit nervous, she was so used to the pit back in Afghanistan, then again she is a quick shot, she knows deep down she's got this.

"So when did you join the Army Simon?"

He looked up from his plate and finished the food in his mouth. "Not long after nine-eleven. It felt like something I needed to do."

"I get that." She took another bite, as did he. "My dad took me and my brother's out of school when that happened. And of course used it as a way to encourage us to join the Army." She rolled her eyes and scoffed. "It was also around the time where our relationship started going south."

And all it did was get worse from there. Instead of trying to make him see her like her brothers', he just didn't care. Deep down she knows she should've left the military long ago. But now she's with a new team and new adventures are on the horizon.

"That's just,,,,,fucked up."

"Tell me about it."

Liz glanced up at the clock, seeing that she had an hour left until she does the pit. And her nerves were beginning to pick up, but nothing she couldn't handle. It was just running an exercise, hardly life or death. Nothing she hasn't done a million times before. She was more nervous about the thought of her choking, she got cocky and she was going to beat his time.

Things went quiet between them as they went back to eating their breakfast. Her eyes kept glancing around the room as more people funneled in. She still couldn't wrap her head around being a part of Task Force One-Four-One, or that she was now living on the SAS base. To her it wasn't possible, then again it's not like she wanted this anyways.

"The funny thing about this whole situation, is that I have no idea why I stayed in the Army." She moved her attention back to him, fiddling with the fork in her hand. "I was forced to join, I could've just did my basic and peaced out. But I didn't, I stayed and I have no idea why."

Ghost finished the food in his mouth before speaking. "Maybe something deep inside you knew things would look up at some point. From personal experience, some things are hard to walk away from, even if we hate it."

Liz went quiet for a moment, eyes glancing down at her plate of half eaten food. He did have a point, even though she hated working with her family there was something inside her telling her she couldn't leave. Maybe it was because of Dunn or maybe fate just knew where she would end up.

"That's true. Some things are just hard to explain, maybe we weren't supposed to get an explanation to begin with."

"That's true."

Liz went back to eating, finishing most of the food on her plate. "So what's the most embarrassing thing that's happened to you during a mission?"

Ghost glanced at the clock, seeing they still had about thirty minutes before they needed to be at the CQB course. "My most embarrassing moment during a mission?"

"Yup." She gave him a cheeky smile that made him scoff. "Okay, fine I'll go first. One mission Rorke wanted me to do some recon and when I was heading back to the squad I had to go down a hill. I ended up tripping and rolling all the way down. It was kinda funny though, in the long run. But damn, did my back hurt afterwards."

"We've all been there." He took a sip of his coffee, leaning back in his chair. "This took place on one of my first deployments. I was working on hacking into the enemies security, got past the first lock easily, second one no problem, third one? That was the issue. My squad was behind this big, secured, locked door, they obviously needed to get through it. Well instead of unlocking that door, I unlocked another one. On the other side of the building. It's not that embarrassing, but when you're young and you're still learning, it was."

Liz blinked her eyes a few times, contemplating what he just said. "Wow. But you're a hacker? Cool."

"Yup. And we should get going, it's a five minute walk from here to the course."

"Okay."

**xXx**

The cold air sent a shiver down Liz's spine, it was definitely going to take her some time to get used to having all four seasons instead of just summer and spring. It never got colder than the mid sixties back in San Diego, it was cool but nothing that could produce some snow.

"It's going to be nice, having all four seasons now."

Ghost laughed and placed his hands in his pockets to keep them warm. "Too much sun for you?"

"Too much heat. When I think of Christmas I think of snow, you ain't getting none of that in San Diego."

"Good thing you're not in San Diego anymore, you're in Hereford. You'll see plenty of snow, it's even funner to train in."

He rolled his eyes and Liz chuckled. It wasn't a surprise that snow would be difficult to train in, she had to do one mission in a few feet of snow and that was hard enough for her. Then again she is pretty small, the few feet of snow nearly went up to her thighs where it was down on the calves of the rest of her team.

But she was looking forward to seeing it snow, having hot chocolate in her room and cozying up in her bed under a big blanket with a book. That sounded perfect to her.

A few moments later they ended up outside one of the warehouses and Ghost turned to look at her. "Here we are."

"I'm excited!" She rubbed her hands together and a cheeky grin started to spread across her face. "I can't wait to see your face when I beat it."

He didn't say anything, he just shook his head and walked into the warehouse, hearing Liz's laughter from behind him.

When she walked in she saw a two story course, which was quite smaller than the pit back in Afghanistan and that made her happy. This should be a piece of cake. She walked over to the monitors where Soap, Roach and Ghost were.

"Well Liz it's your turn. Grab a few flashbangs at the top, shoot the targets and see if you can beat the Lieutenants time."

"Do we have to use a specific weapon or can we use any, sir?"

"Use whatever weapon you want corporal."

"Okay." She gave Ghost one last look, a smirk growing on her face. "It's okay to be upset afterwards. I won't hold it against you."

Liz made her way up the ladder to the top, seeing a few weapons laid out and the flashbangs. She grabbed four flashbangs and placed them on her tactical belt, then looked over the weapons. Deciding to pick up the USP.45 and her favorite pistol, the desert eagle. Once she had one gun in her hand and the other in the holster she went to the side and nodded her head, telling them she was ready.

"Alright corporal grab the rope when you're ready."

Liz looked down at the first section, seeing three targets, easy as pie. She grabbed the rope and repelled down, as soon as her feet hit the ground she grabbed the pistol.

The first three targets popped and before Soap could get a word out she shot them all, including the one on the stairs.

"Flashbang out."

She grabbed one from her vest and tossed it in, waiting precisely two seconds before shooting the next two targets in the room. The next room she entered two targets popped up, one in front and one to the side of her. She grabbed her knife with her free hand and stabbed the one at her side while shooting the one in front.

"Flashbang out."

She tossed a flashbang into the next room, and as soon as the targets popped she shot the first one, made her way out of the course, turned and shot the last one through the wall.

"Run to the finish."

With a cheeky smile on her face she ran to the finish line, seeing the time at 15.6 seconds. She looked back over at the table, seeing them all having surprised looks on their faces. That made her laugh.

Liz made her way back to the table and chuckled. "I told you Simon."

"That's Mister Lieutenant to you."

She couldn't help but laugh and turn her attention to the other two men in the room.

"Looks like we have a new lead now, good job!"

"Thank you captain!"

"Damn, how'd you learn to do something like that?" asked Roach

"Years of practice. Also a pistol is a lot lighter than an SMG or an Assault Rifle, you'll run faster. Your timing will be faster and so will your awareness be."

Roach slowly nodded his head, contemplating her words. "Sweet. Hey cap can I try?"

"After. I got word of a new mission ladies and gentleman, the ultranationalists are making a little ruckus in Caucasus Mountains, we're going to put a stop to it."

"Rules of engagement sir?" asked Liz.

"Everyone Is expendable. We leave at 22:00, get some rest beforehand if you can."

"Yes sir." They all said in unison.

Liz turned to Ghost with that cheeky smile on her face again, waiting for him to say something. "Awe come on don't be like that. It's okay, maybe you'll be back at the top someday."

He still didn't say anything, instead he grabbed the USP.45 from Liz and walked over to the course and began to climb the ladder.

"Oh no, you've awoken his competitive nature." said Roach.

"I'm sorry?"

Roached laughed and they both went back to watching the lieutenant on the monitors to see how he does. "He can go at it for hours, hopefully he won't since we have a mission soon."

"We can force him out after a couple of hours." said Soap.

And that's exactly what happened, Ghost stayed in that warehouse doing the course over a hundred times before Soap had to yell at him to get some sleep before the mission. He was the second in command and he needed to be fully aware while on the mission. No ifs ands or buts.

While Liz laid in her bed, trying to make herself tired, Ghost was in his bed reading a book. Neither of them were tired, then again it wasn't the first mission they've both been on in the past where they didn't get any sleep before a mission. They should be fine. Hopefully.

"Are you really going to try and beat my time?"

"If I can, or get as close as I can. Fifteen seconds is really good."

"Well thank you!" She sat up, fixing the covers around her. "But that shouldn't make you so competitive Simon. The more you'll do it, the better you'll get."

"I wouldn't say it made me competitive." He placed his book down and gave her his full attention. "It made me want to do better. You just got here and are already teaching me something."

Her face softened and she didn't know what to say. That was the first time anyone has said that to her, she was never the one to teach an older person something, it was always the other way around. It was like people older than her couldn't stand the thought of her teaching them something. Just because she was younger doesn't mean she was inexperienced.

"Yeah, I guess I did."

"You seemed shocked you did?"

"No, well, okay maybe a little." She chuckled. "I'm not used to it, that's all."

"What the bloody hell kind of people did you work with?"

"Pretty shitty egotistical ones."

"I can tell."

She chuckled and looked down at her hands. Even though she hasn't even been a part of the one-four-one for a full day yet, it was already beginning to open her eyes to all the shit she really went through. Being a female in the military is hard enough without the harassment, but being a part of a team that has your family is another.

It was already becoming clear how much abuse she actually went through and that was a lot to take in.

"It's a good thing I'm not with them now."

"I'd say so." He placed his book on the nightstand and stretched his arms out in front of him. "Are you excited for your first mission with the one-four-one?"

"Absolutely! And kind of nervous." She rubbed the back of her neck and looked over at him. "Being out with a new team is going to be something I need to get used too."

"I'm sure you'll get used to us very quickly."

"I think so too!"

Liz and Ghost spent another hour talking about past missions they've gone on, any crazy injuries that happened and even some embarrassing stories before getting some sleep. Being roomed with Ghost was a big help, she's already got a new friend and he was pretty easy to talk with. The only issue is that he was pretty reserved, which didn't bother her in the slightest, she just wanted to know more about him. Maybe over time he'll open up more, as will she.


End file.
